Wheel lever



Jan. 4, 1949-. J. G sTAUs l V2,458,219 WHEEL LEVER Filed March 6, 1946 Inventor Patented Jan. 4, 1949 UNITED STAT ES PATENT' OFFICE WHEEL LEVER .fohn G. Staus, El Paso, Tex. Applica-tien March 6, 1946, seriaiNu. 652,304

(c1. :n4-3s) v7 Claims.

This invention relates to a wheel lever and constitutes an. improvement over the wheel stick covered by my prior Patent 1,799,185', issued April 7, 1931. When a wheel stick of thelconstruction shown in the prior patent referred to above is in..

use and an axle raised. at one end so that the" and its wheel may be rolled along the ground in a circular or arcuate path about the stick, the stick lmust turn during rolling of the axle andV its wheel. This has been found objectionable as them stick must turn. in the hand of the workman hold ing the same. Therefore, oneobject of this invention is to provide a wheel stick. or lever carrying an axle engaging member somounted that it may turn about the .lever andv thus allow .the axle and wheels carried thereby to be rolled along the ground in a circular or. arcuate path without the lever turning in the workmans hand.

Another object of the invention. is to provide the wheel lever with an. axle-engaging member so mounted that it may be moved along the lever longitudinally thereof to adjusted position, and thus accommodate the device to wheelsr of various diameters.

Another object of the invention is .to provide a wheel lever wherein collars or stops which hold the axle-engaging member in adjusted position along the lever may be so adjusted that while they will allow the sleeve of the axle-engaging member to turn about the lever, they will prevent it from turning too freely.

Another object of the'inventio'n is'to provide a wheel lever which is simple i-nwconstruction and very strong andl not liable' to: be broken when subjected to rough usage.

The invention is illustratedin the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure l is a si'd'e view showing the improved wheel lever in use,

Figure 2 is a view showing the `device partially in elevation and partially in longitudinal section,

Figure 3 is a view showing the lever in transverse section and looking down upon the axleen effing member, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary View looking at the iront of the wheel lever.

The bar or lever l of this improved wheel lever formed of strong metal and may be of any desired length and diameter, ends of the bar or lever being formed with threaded sockets to receive ferrules 2 and 3. The forward end portion of the bar or lever is tapered somewhat to form tip having the ground-engaging ferrule 3 at itiront end and at its rear end the tip is formed with a shoulder 5. Above the shoulder 5, the

lever is threaded for approximately half its length,

`aslshown at and this threadedportion'ofv the lever carries collars. 'land 8. The bar or lever tapers rearwardly from the rear end of its threadedy portion suiliciently to permit the nuts or collars i', and il` to. be slidalong the lever and then threaded upon theleve-r,andfromaninspectiono Fig-ure 2, it will be seen that when'the nutv or. collar 8 li-sinplace; it has abutting engagement with the shoulder 5.y A` sleeve 9 fits loosely about the lever between the nuts or collars 'l and E! and between the vsleeve or tube V9 and the collar 'l is disposed a sleeve rUIL which also fi-ts loosely about the lever. When the nut 1 is tightened to a. desired extent, the tube ISl-wi-lllceallowedto turn about the threaded portion. of. the leven but it will be prevented from turning too freely when the device is in use. An arcuate bill-or Ibracket l i proj ects from the tube Band the shank I2` of this bill -or bracketis welded to the tube and is of such. length that 'it `will be very iirmly held to the tube and not liable .to break` loose during use of the device. Side flanges I3 extend,v along -side edges of the bill. and its shank, .and midway the width of the bracket and its shank there has been providedla web I4 whichdivides the bracket midway its width and cooperateswith the-flanges i3 to form channels or seats l5. It will thus be seen that when the device is in use, either end of an axle I6 may have itshead or collar lha engaged in a seat I5 and the rear end of the lever then pushedV upwardly and, forwardlyA so lthat it will be locked to a verticalposition and rest upon .its lower end with the'wheel I1 adjacent the Vend of the axle engaged` by the wheel lever supported above the ground. A web 118 which extends longitudinally of the tube between the bracket l land the front end of the tube reinforces the ybill or bracket and prevents it from being broken by the weight ofthe axle andthe car wheel which have been lifted from the ground. After an end 4of the axle has been shifted upwardly and the adjacent wheel raised to a position out of Contact with the ground, a workman serving as helper to 'the workman operating the wheel lever may apply rolling motion to the wheel at the opposite end of the axle from the lever and this wheel will roll along the ground and the head 16a of the axle engaged in the seat of the bracket or bill M will turn in this seat. The wheel pushed by the helper moves in a circular or arcuate path and during this movement the tube or sleeve 9 turns about the lever and the Workman operating the lever may hold it rmly in his hand, as the lever does not turn with the tube or sleeve S. When the wheel lever is used for raising an end ofan axle carrying small wheels which may be of thirty-three inch diameter, the sleeve or collar l is disposed between the nut 'l and the upper or rear end of the tube9, but when a larger wheel l having a diameter of thirty-six inches is to be raised from the ground, the nut '1, the collar l0,

and the tube 9 will be slid rearwardly off of the v lever and then reassembled with the sleeve or collar I0 disposed between the front end of the tube 9 and the nut 8 and thus dispose the axleengaging bracket or bill a greater distance from the front end of the lever and penmit the device to accommodate itself to the larger wheel.

While it has been stated that the lever is to be used for lifting axles provided with 33-inch wheels and 36-inch wheels, it will be understood that these are merely illustrative diameters of the wheels and that the lever may be used for lifting axles carrying wheels of other diameters. By properly adjusting the upper nut l', the sleeve or tube 9 may be allowed to turn about the lever but prevented from turning too freely. Theresaid bar engaging the rear end of said tube, a

nut screwed upon said bar and engaging the rear end of said sleeve and applying pressure to the. tube to control turning movement of the tube;

about the bar, a bracket having a shankrigidly carried by said tube and an arcuate bill extending from its shank from the tube radially thereof, flanges extending along side edges of the shank and bill, a web midway the widthof said bracket cooperating with the flanges to fonm seats for an axle headat opposite sides of the web, and a reinforcing web between said billA and the front fore, the axle-engaging member will be prevented y.

ment of details coming within the eld of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired. l

What is claimed is:

1. A wheel stick comprising a lever and an, .A

axle-engaging member carried by said lever intermediate the ends thereof and movable about the bar circumferentially thereof.

2. A wheel stick comprising al lever and an axle-engaging member carried by said lever intere f mediate the ends thereof, the axle-engaging member being movable about the lever and adjustably shiftable along the lever.

3. A wheel stick comprising a lever, nuts in threaded engagement with an intermediate portion of said lever, a tube fitting about the lever between said nuts, and` means extending from said tube for engaging under and supporting an axle to be lifted by the lever.

4. A wheel lever comprising a bar threaded for a portion of its length and having a circumfer-V entially extending abutment shoulder at the front end of its threaded portion, a nut screwedupon said bar and abutting said shoulder, a tube fitting about the threaded portion of said bar' with its front end bearing against said nut, a sleeve about end of the tube.

v 5. A wheel lever comprising a bar threaded for a portion of its length, a lower nut upon the threaded portion of said bar,` an upper nut upon the threaded portion of said bar, a tube tting about the threaded portion of the bar between said nuts and rotatable about the bar, said knuts applying pressure to ends of the tube for controlling rotation of the tube about the bar, and a member projecting from the tube for engagingk under an end of an axle, the distance between the axle-engaging member and the lower end of the bar being greater than a radius of Aa wheel on ksaid axle whereby the bar may be tilted toa vertical positionafter engagement with an end of an axle and the wheel held out of contact with the ground. l l

6. A wheel stick comprising a lever, a groundengaging member at the front end of said lever,

a sleeve fitting about an intermediate portion of said lever and rotatable thereon, an axle-engaging member projecting from said sleeve, and means for maintaining said sleeve in predetermined spaced relation to the frontendof said bar whereby the wheel lever maybe adjusted to accommodate it to axles carrying Wheels of dierent diameters.

7. A wheel stick comprising a lever having a ground-engaging front end, a sleeve rotatably mounted on anintermediate portion of said lever and provided with means for engaging under an l end of an axle, andl means carried by said lever 'for rotatably supporting said sleeve and holding the sleeve in predetenmined spaced relation to the front end of the lever.

JOI-1N G. STAUS.

` REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Number .Y y

lSmith Sept. 10, 1878 Alheit June 24, 1924 Templeton Dec. 23, 1919 Staus Apr. 7, 193].` Beach 1 i.- Sept. 15, 1936 

